Austria: Stiegl Brewery admits difficult financial situation

Herbert Bauer, who took over as managing director of Stiegl Brewery in Salzburg in April after joining from Coca-Cola HBC, has announced a comprehensive restructuring program and hinted at possible job cuts. Speaking to ORF and other media, Bauer admitted that Austria’s largest privately owned brewery is in a difficult financial situation, Inside.Beer reported on October 23.

The brewery, producing nearly 1 million hl annually, has now recorded its third consecutive year of losses, –1.4 million EUR in 2022, –5 million EUR in 2023 and –5.3 million EUR in 2024, despite increasing its turnover from 88.1 million EUR (2023) to 95.4 million EUR (2024). According to ORF, the company accumulated more than 9 million EUR in losses over the past two years alone.

Bauer attributed the ongoing decline mainly to a shift in sales channels: most beer is now sold through retail outlets, where intense price pressure from supermarket chains prevents the same profitability as in gastronomy. The on-trade business, already hit hard by the pandemic, has not yet recovered. Additionally, stagnating demand and overcapacity continue to burden the Austrian beer market.

While the company currently covers losses with reserves from earlier profitable years, Bauer emphasized that Stiegl must adapt structurally. “There will be areas where we may need fewer people than today, but also new fields where we’ll require additional expertise,” he said.

The brewery’s real estate division recently generated liquidity by selling properties — the so-called “Stiegl-Gründe” — for over 75 million EUR, but the core brewing operations remain under pressure. Stiegl, a member of the Freie Brauer association, now plans to focus on efficiency and long-term sustainability to return to profitability.